There are two reports. The On Loan report, created by the PC-FILE+ report generator. This report simply prints the Location, Author, Title, Cover, and Comments_1 if the On_loan field is equal to "Y". The other report is external to PC-FILE+ and is generated by the program BOOKLIST.EXE.

BOOKLIST creates a listing of the book inventory database and includes Category, Author, Title, Cover and Location. In addition, a totals page is created, listing total number of books and cost for each individual category as well as totals for all categories. The program page breaks on category, and assumes the files BOOKINV.HDR, BOOKINV.DTA and BOOKINV.INX are on the current directory path, and in category sequence. These defaults can be overridden by entering a different drive/path and/or the keyword "LOC" on the command line. "LOC" will cause the program to page break on location, and will expect the database to be sorted by location. i.e. BOOKLIST A:\ LOC (files are on drive A:, sorted by Location)

When executed, BOOKLIST will display a menu of the available category choices, and a description of each. Refer to figure 1 for a sample display of the menu. The same category descriptions are printed at the top of each page on the BOOKLIST report, unless the location option is selected, then the location will print at the top of each page. The menu allows selecting only specific categories, by separating each request with a semicolon (1; 5; 10), printing every category by entering ALL, or print only the totals page by entering the category 99. This allows printing only the categories that have been updated instead of the entire database. A revision date prints at the bottom of each page. The totals page will always print and include ALL categories, regardless of how many categories you select.

The program will display a warning message if the database is not sorted in the sequence expected. An error report is generated if any of the records have an invalid category. The error report will include the relative record number to facilitate corrective action.

2

BOOKLIST obtains valid category numbers and descriptions from the file BOOKINV.HDR. This may seem a bit unconventional, but it does serve several purposes.

1. The current categories will always be displayed whenever you add or modify records. 2. BOOKLIST will always have the current categories and descriptions without having to maintained a separate database. 3. The categories can easily be maintained using the PC-FILE+ cloning option.

For BOOKLIST to be successful, certain rules must be followed for BOOKINV.HDR. Figure 2 is the data entry screen from the pre-defined database structure. Even though the maximum of 30 categories have been identified, only 18 of them are "active" and recognized by BOOKLIST. The others are provided for example only and can be removed if so desired.

To be an active category and recognized by the system, the entry must: - begin with a number (1-30), - followed by a dash, - followed by the description (maximum 30 characters), and - terminate with a semicolon. A maximum of two categories per line is permitted.

PRINTER PROFILE ---------------

The file BOOKPRT.PRO is used by BOOKLIST to send various control codes to the printer, and is set up for the EPSON-FX series. If your printer uses different codes, you will have to modify the printer profile file. Figure 3 shows the contents for the pre-defined printer profile, and contains comments on how to modify the file for a different printer. You will also have to modify the control codes in BOOKLOAN.REP.

3

Figure 1: BOOKLIST Selection Menu -----------------------

v1.0 BOOK INVENTORY REPORT SELECTION MENU

TO PRINT SELECTED BOOK CATEGORIES; ENTER THE NUMBER(S) SEPARATED BY ';' (I.E. 1;5;13 for categories 1,5 & 13 or ALL for every category) ==>

Printer control codes for the BOOK INVENTORY SYSTEMSet up for the EPSON-FX printer series.

Each print code is prefix with an identification code that begins with aslash and ends with a colon. The printer codes are separated by a comma,and the last code must end with a colon. Any data after that colon isconsidered a comment and is ignored by the program.

Because of the external program BOOKLIST, the database structure cannot be modified. You may, however, rename existing fields and change their edit masks. This may also require changes to the sort smartkeys and the

PC-FILE+ report formats.

To modify the categories:

1. Select the CLONE option from the PC-FILE+ Utility Menu. 2. Modify the categories as required. Be sure to follow the format exactly as described earlier (number, dash, desc, semicolon). 3. Press F10 to enter the new screen layout. 4. Enter 'N' for data entry sequence change. 5. Press F10 for each database field (nine times). 6. PC-FILE+ will then ask whether you want to CLONE a new database or modify the screen. Enter "M" to modify screen only. IMPORTANT: If this option does not appear, you have inadvertently modified a field size. Press until you get back to the utility menu and try again.

If you execute BOOKLIST and one or more of your categories does not appear, the format in BOOKINV.HDR is incorrect. Just reenter PC-FILE+ and repeat the above steps.

MENU SELECTION BATCH JOB ------------------------

The batch job MENU.BAT was included to provide a simple menu for executing the various system options. The program ASK.COM is used to capture keyboard input and set the DOS errorlevel code according to the input. ASK.COM is a public domain program that I did not write. Therefore, I can't do anything about its functionality. However, it does work well for the menu job. To execute the menu, type MENU and press enter. You will be presented with mulitple options. Key the letter for the option you want, then press enter. The menu will redisplay when that options function has completed.

The menu assumes the inventory files and programs are in the directory C:\PCF\BOOK, which of course you can change. The menu will also display a message concerning the sequence of the database, which can be:

1. The database is NOT in sequence. The menu assumes the database was updated when update events option was selected. 2. The database is in CATEGORY sequence. 3. The database is in LOCATION sequence.

The message helps to determine what sort is required, if any, before a given report is generated.

The menu job also assumes the pre-defined sort keys (discussed earlier) have not been changed. If so, you will have to change the KEYIN options in MENU.BAT.

6

MISCELLANEOUS -------------

When you are done playing with the sample records, delete the datasets BOOKINV.DTA and BOOKINV.INX. DO NOT delete BOOKINV.HDR. When you go to add your own data, PC-FILE will re-create the .DTA and .INX datasets.

If you have a variable length sequential book inventory file you've created with an editor, MCOPY in the IBMSW forum will convert the file to a fixed length random file for importing to PC-FILE. In addition, MCOPY will initialize fields, copy only selected records, and/or replace data string values. Very useful for purging or creating test files.

RESTRICTIONS ------------

BOOKLIST and the BOOKINV template were written by Dean Ammons for the IBM PC using DOS 2.0 to 3.2. NOT FOR SALE OR HIRE.

The template is for PC-FILE+ only, and cannot be used with previous versions of PC-FILE.

BOOKLIST is supplied for personal, private use. Feel free to distribute BOOKLIST given these restrictions:

* the program and the following files shall be supplied in their original, unmodified forms: